nrt 


P^Co  py  &  . 


a 


Salesmanship 


and 


Co-operation 


Ce^t 


Salesmanship 

and 

Co-operation 


Published  by 

The  Realty  Union 

First  National  Bank  Building 
San  Francisco,  California 


».  •  • 


> ,» 


San  Francisco,  California 
1913 


Copyrighted  in  IQI3 

h 

Roosevelt  Johnson 


(Tolonial  Ijpress 

San.  TFranclsco 


19/3 

Win 


The  salesman  of  to-day  must  know  that  business 
is  not  a  contest,  but  a  co-operation.  He  must  know 
that  the  antagonistic  spirit  which  permeated  busi- 
ness in  its  early  days  has  no  place  in  modern  com- 
mercialism. He  must  know  that  fighting  is  child's 
play,  but  co-operation  is  work  for  grown  men.  And 
he  must  know  that  business  is  not  merely  a,  method 
of  making  a  living;  it  is  the  science  of  human 
service. 


261280 


Salesmanship 
The  Power  of  Belief 


There  is  a  power  in  the  minds  of  men  that,  when 
exercised,  never  fails  to  generate  success.  It  is  the 
power  of  belief — belief  in  themselves  and  belief  in 
the  work  that  they  are  doing. 

Take  two  men  of  like  experience  and  of  the  same 
apparent  ability,  and  give  to  each  the  same  task.  The 
one  who  believes  in  what  he  is  doing  will  succeed;  the 
one  who  believes  not  will  fail. 

Consider  the  achievements  that  are  monuments  to 
inventive  genius,  the  products  of  perseverance  and  of 
industry,  and  all  things  that  are  worth  while.  They 
are  the  work  of  men  who  believed  in  what  they  did. 

Field  dreamed  of  an  Atlantic  cable,  believed  it  prac- 
ticable, overcame  a  thousand  obstacles,  and  laid  a 
thread  of  steel  across  the  ocean  bed  which  made  com- 
munication between  continents  a  reality.  Success 
comes  through  the  power  of  belief. 

Edison  dreamed  of  a  world  lighted,  heated,  driven 
by  the  mystic,  unseen  fluid  that  the  ingenious  Frank- 
lin had  coaxed  from  the  clouds  with  his  kite-string  a 
century  before.  And  being  a  dreamer  who  believed 
in  making  his  dreams  come  true,  he  proceeded  to  har- 
ness and  to  direct  that  power  and  to  give  to  us  the  elec- 
trical marvels  of  our  time.  Success  comes  through 
the  power  of  belief. 

Thomas  J.  Foster,  in  a  little  Pennsylvanian  mining 
town,  saw  the  need  of  a  plan  of  education  that  would 
enable  the  labourer  at  his  task  to  train  his  hands 
and  his  brain  for  better  work.  And  believing  in  the 
plan  that  his  ingenuity  had  devised,  he  built  upon  it 
one  of  the  greatest  educational  institutions  of  the 
world.    Success  comes  through  the  power  of  belief. 


Salesmanship 


Do  you  believe  in  the  work  that  you  are  doing,  in 
the  security  that  you  are  selling,  in  the  methods  that 
you  are  using,  in  your  ability  to  succeed?  If  you 
believe,  you  are  sure  to  succeed.  If  you  believe  not, 
you  are  on  the  wrong  road,  a  road  that  will  never 
lead  you  to  success. 

If  you  believe  not  in  your  company,  in  your  propo- 
sition and  in  your  ability  to  sell  it,  then  make  up  your 
mind  to-day  that  you  will  make  an  honest,  earnest 
effort  to  acquire  that  belief. 

When  a  firm  is  doing  a  great  work,  when  it  is  sell- 
ing a  security  that  gives  to  every  buyer  1 00  per  cent, 
of  conservative  investment  value,  when  it  is  backed  by 
honest,  clean-cut  men  of  achievement,  then  it  is  car- 
rying on  a  business  that  should  inspire  its  men  to  give 
forth  the  best  that  is  in  them. 


Yourself  and  Your  Prospect — The  Human  Ele- 
ment in  Selling 

To  reach  the  pinnacle  of  salesmanship,  a  man  must 
have  great  qualities  both  of  mind  and  of  disposition. 
He  must  have  a  brain  that  can  play  chess  with  a  pros- 
pect. He  must  be  alert,  receptive,  masterful.  He 
must  have  his  profession  mapped  in  large  lines,  and 
he  must  take  his  work  seriously  as  one  requiring  the 
severest  mental  concentration. 

It  is  an  art  to  handle  a  man  in  such  a  way  as  to  win 
both  his  order  and  his  friendship.  A  living  man  is 
the  most  complex  mechanism  in  the  world.  Com- 
pared with  a  man,  a  locomotive  is  a  toy.  The  slight- 
est blunder  may  cause  a  man  to  work  badly  or  to 

8 


Salesmmiship 


break  down;  yet  there  are  no  printed  directions 
attached  to  him.  All  we  can  do  is  to  watch  his  eyes 
and  do  our  best. 

An  efficient  salesman  never  tackles  his  man.  All 
the  things  that  are  right  in  football  are  wrong  in  sales- 
manship. Goals  in  the  commercial  world  are  not  won 
by  kicks.  If  you  crash  unexpectedly  into  another 
man's  mind,  his  mind  will  naturally  resent  your 
arrival,  and  first  impressions  are  lasting. 

The  first  words  of  self-introduction  often  tell  the 
whole  story  of  an  interview.  They  should  be  as  few 
as  possible.  The  really  big  men  in  the  business  world 
require  the  fewest.  They  value  their  time  by  heart 
beats.  They  are  men  of  few  words  and  they  appre- 
ciate a  statement  that  is  brief  and  to  the  point.  The 
pith  is  what  a  competent  business  man  wants. 

The  most  efficient  method  of  approach  is  to  come 
to  a  man  from  his  own  point  of  view.  If  you  can  do 
this,  you  will  be  welcome  no  matter  what  you  have 
to  sell.  You  should  never  talk  at  a  man,  but  always 
talk  with  him.  The  difference  between  these  two 
procedures  is  the  difference  between  failure  and 
success. 

To  every  man  the  most  important  and  interesting 
word  in  the  language  is  his  own  name.  However 
commonplace  he  may  be,  he  at  least  has  that  one  dis- 
tinguishing feature.  You  would  better  not  go  near 
a  man,  than  to  meet  him  and  mispronounce  his  name, 
or  than  to  meet  him  and  not  to  know  his  name.  That 
is  almost  as  fatal  to  the  success  of  your  interview  as 
though  you  carried  a  wet  towel  and  with  it  slapped 
his  face. 

Few  small  incidents  are  more  gratifying  to  a  man 
than  when  some  apparent  stranger  appears  and  tells 
him  a  new  fact  about  his  name.     For  instance,  sup- 


Salesmanship 


pose  a  telephone  salesman  wants  to  sell  service  to  a 
man  who  is  named  Grant.  He  approaches  his  man 
and  says:  "Good  morning,  Mr.  Grant,  do  you  know 
that  we  have  the  names  of  eleven  men  named  Grant 
in  our  telephone  book?  We  want  yours  to  make  the 
even  dozen."  This  interests  and  pleases  Mr.  Grant. 
Here  is  a  fact  about  his  name  that  he  did  not  know. 
Of  course,  he  subscribes  to  the  telephone  service  and 
becomes  the  twelfth  Grant.  Not  to  do  so  would  spoil 
a  good  story. 

If  you  can  discover  no  distinguishing  feature  about 
the  man  himself,  speak  of  his  location.  Speak  of  his 
building.  If  it  be  well  kept,  tell  him  so.  If  the  city  be 
coming  in  his  direction,  tell  him  so.  Say  something 
that  will  please  him  and  that  will  make  him  respect 
your  judgment.  No  one  cares  to  do  business  with  a 
stranger.  And  if  you  show  that  you  know  nothing 
of  and  care  nothing  for  the  other  man,  certainly  he  will 
care  nothing  for  you  or  for  your  proposition. 

Speak  with  him;  that  is  the  main  thing.  Before 
you  venture  to  worry  a  man  about  your  proposition, 
you  owe  him  the  honor  of  having  first  thought  about 
him  and  about  what  he  is  doing.  To  do  this  is  not  flat- 
tery, as  some  salesmen  erroneously  suppose.  It  is 
good  breeding;  it  is  courtesy;  it  is  showing  a  proper 
deference  and  respect  for  the  personality  of  your 
customer. 

In  many  cases,  it  is  better  to  listen  first  and  to  speak 
afterward.  If  you  have  reason  to  believe  that  your 
man  has  any  grievance,  or  any  story  of  success  or  of 
failure,  draw  it  from  him.  It  is  always  better  for  him 
to  talk  to  you  than  for  you  to  talk  to  him.  Many  a 
salesman  speaks  his  own  chances  to  death.  No  mat- 
ter how  interesting  you  are,  you  cannot  possibly  be  as 
interesting  to  a  man  as  is  his  own  voice.    This  is  a  trait 

10 


Salesmanship1. 


of  human  nature  which  many  salesmen  overlook. 

Especially,  if  a  man  have  a  grievance,  you  should 
listen.  You  should  sympathize.  You  should  see  his 
point  of  view.  Should  he  have  been  wronged  by  your 
firm,  you  must  make  restitution.  You  must  not  insult 
him  by  explanations  or  by  defenses.  Even  if  he  be 
only  half  right,  which  is  usually  the  case,  it  is  better 
to  admit  his  contention  and  give  him  what  he  really 
believes  is  his  due,  since  one  of  the  first  steps  to  take 
in  an  interview  is  to  create  a  favorable  feeling  toward 
your  company  and  toward  your  proposition. 

One  may  go  further  and  say :  Do  not  argue  or  con- 
tradict. There  is  an  old  fallacy  to  the  effect  that  a  sales- 
man's mouth  should  be  always  full  of  arguments; 
but  it  should  not.  There  is  no  demand  for  controversy 
in  the  business  world.  Statesmanship,  not  business, 
is  the  natural  sphere  of  debate.  If  your  customer  in- 
sist on  debating,  let  him  win.  It  is  better  to  lose  an 
argument  and  to  win  an  order,  than  to  win  an  argu- 
ment and  to  lose  an  order.  One  of  the  great  discov- 
eries of  successful  firms  is  that  the  customer  is  always 
right. 

From  first  to  last,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  salesman  to 
defer  to  his  customer's  mood,  to  his  beliefs  and  to  his 
feelings.  No  matter  how  wrong-headed  and  whim- 
sical he  may  be,  the  time  to  correct  him  is  after  you 
have  made  the  sale,  not  before. 

Most  persons  have  become  too  wise  or  too  cul- 
tured to  be  captured  by  the  old-time  methods  of  brag 
and  of  bluff.  They  cannot  be  driven  into  buying  by 
a  storm  of  wild  statements.  Neither  can  they  be 
cajoled  by  drinks,  automobile  drives  and  theatre  par- 
ties. The  day  for  these  follies  has  passed.  The  de- 
mand is  for  salesmen  of  a  higher  class. 

Human  nature  has  improved,   and  the  salesman 

n 


Salesmanship 

must  improve  with  it.  Human  nature  is  the  main 
factor  of  the  whole  problem.  The  salesman  of  to-day 
must  study  human  nature  closely.  He  must  study 
human  faces  until  he  can  read  the  head-lines  of  char- 
acter that  are  there  written. 

The  salesman  of  to-day  must  know  that  business 
is  not  a  contest,  but  a  co-operation.  He  must  know 
that  the  antagonistic  spirit  which  permeated  business 
in  its  early  days  has  no  place  in  modern  commercial- 
ism. He  must  know  that  fighting  is  child's  play,  but 
co-operation  is  work  for  grown  men.  And  he  must 
know  that  business  is  not  merely  a  method  of  making 
a  living;  it  is  the  science  of  human  service. 


The  Power  of  Concentration 


Recently  a  most  successful  investment  salesman 
told  how  he  came  to  succeed: 

"Three  years  ago,"  he  said,  "I  was  selling  invest- 
ment securities.  There  were  about  twenty  small 
towns  in  my  territory,  and  I  had  the  idea  that  to  cover 
my  territory  I  must  visit  each  town  every  month.  Pur- 
suing this  course,  I  never  stopped  in  one  place  more 
than  two  days.  I  couldn't,  for  I  thought  I  had  to 
get  to  the  next  town. 

"However,  on  one  winter's  day  I  arrived  in  the 
most  remote  of  all  my  stopping  places  just  as  a  snow 
storm  struck  the  village.  In  twenty-four  hours  the 
roads  were  impassable.  The  town  was  cut  off  from 
the  outside  world. 

"I  was  penned  where  I  could  not  make  my  regular 
trip  to  the  next  town.     I  wished  to  have  company,  so 

\2 


Salesmanship 


I  made  acquaintances.  I  wished  to  talk,  so  I  talked  of 
our  securities.  By  the  third  day  I  knew  more  per- 
sons in  that  town  than  I  had  met  in  a  half  dozen  pre- 
vious visits.  By  the  fourth  day  they  were  interested 
in  what  I  was  doing.  And  by  the  end  of  the  week 
I  had  sold  more  securities  in  that  one  village  than  I 
had  sold  in  skipping  over  my  territory  the  whole 
month  before. 

"That  one  week's  experience  taught  me  the  best 
lesson  that  I  ever  learned  about  selling.  When  I 
moved  to  the  next  town  I  spent  the  better  part  of  a 
week  there,  and  the  result  of  my  concentrated  effort 
showed  me  that  at  last  I  was  on  the  right  track.  From 
that  time  concentration  has  always  been  my  greatest 
aid  in  business." 

If  you  do  not  know  what  real  concentration  will 
do,  it  is  because  you  have  not  tried  it.  I  have  heard  of 
a  salesman  who  went  fifty  miles  to  a  remote  town  to 
see  one  prospect.  When  he  found  his  man  he  asked 
him  kindly  to  walk  down  to  the  station  with  him  while 
he  talked,  so  that  he  would  be  sure  not  to  miss  the 
next  train. 

What  result  could  be  expected  from  a  canvass  given 
while  the  salesman  stood  at  a  railway  station  with  his 
watch  in  his  hand?  So  far  as  I  know  that  was  the 
only  trip  which  that  salesman  ever  made  to  that  town. 
Yet  for  all  he  knew,  it  may  have  contained  many  good 
prospects  who  needed  only  concentrated,  systematic 
work  to  be  found. 

Concentration  means  to  focus  your  ability,  your  pur- 
pose, and  all  your  energy  at  one  point.  It  means  to 
stay  in  one  community,  and  to  work  in  that  com- 
munity systematically  until  you  get  business  or  until 
you  are  sure  that  there  is  no  business  to  be  had. 


J3 


Salesmanship 

Selling  Is  a  Business 


One  great  trouble  with  many  of  us  is  that  we  do 
not  appreciate  the  importance  of  our  position  in  the 
community  in  which  we  work.  As  a  salesman  you 
are  a  business  man  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and 
when  you  are  assigned  to  work  in  a  certain  com- 
munity you  become  one  of  the  business  men  of  that 
community. 

When  you  first  enter  a  town,  say  to  yourself :  I  am 
now  one  of  the  representative  business  men  of  this 
community.  I  am  just  as  vital  to  its  welfare  as  the 
doctor,  the  dentist,  the  grocer,  the  attorney,  or  any 
business  man  in  any  of  its  offices  or  stores.  Their 
business  is  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  people  in  this 
town.  My  business  is  the  same,  for  I  bring  them  a 
medium  for  a  safe  and  profitable  investment  of  their 
savings.  And  inasmuch  as  a  part  of  my  time  in  the 
future  is  to  be  devoted  regularly  to  this  community,  I 
will  demonstrate  to  these  persons  that  I  am  worthy  of 
their  confidence  and  of  their  patronage. 

Then  proceed  to  make  yourself  known  in  that  com- 
munity and  to  acquire  the  largest  possible  number  of 
acquaintances;  after  that,  it  is  simply  a  matter  of 
winning  their  confidence  and  telling  them  what  you 
have  to  offer. 

The  next  step  after  making  acquaintances  is  to  get 
those  acquaintances  working  for  you.  The  greatest 
asset  in  making  you  a  success  will  be  a  number  of 
helpers  who  take  a  real  interest  in  turning  business 
your  way.  The  best  kind  of  a  helper  is  always  a  sat- 
isfied buyer.  Therefore,  every  time  you  approach  a 
prospect,  approach  him  with  the  purpose  of  so  selling 
to  him,  that  is,  of  so  convincing  him  of  the  worth  of 

(4 


Salesmanship 


your  proposition,  that  when  he  has  bought  he  will  be 
glad  to  recommend  the  investment  to  his  friends. 

Look  upon  every  prospect  not  only  as  a  prospect 
for  a  single  sale,  but  as  an  avenue  to  an  unlimited 
number  of  sales  which  this  prospect  will  help  you  to 
reach. 

But  whether  or  not  a  prospect  buys,  treat  him  with 
the  same  unvarying  courtesy  and  solicit  his  aid  in 
making  more  acquaintances.  In  some  way,  make 
every  man  you  meet  an  asset  to  your  business.  Make 
him  at  least  a  medium  through  which  you  may  meet 
new  persons  who  may  be  interested  in  your  propo- 
sition. 

If  your  route  include  several  towns,  you  will  find  it 
necessary  to  divide  your  time  among  them.  But  take 
those  towns  one  at  a  time  and  concentrate  on  each  of 
them  until  you  have  established  yourself  in  the  con- 
fidence of  influential  persons  in  each  community.  It 
may  take  a  week,  it  may  take  a  month;  but  concen- 
tration of  this  kind,  hard,  intelligent  work  among  a 
single  class  or  in  a  single  community,  would  be  the 
secret  of  success  for  many  men  who  now  fail. 

Follow  the  lead  of  men  who  have  proved  the  meth- 
ods that  bring  results.  Don't  scatter  your  efforts. 
Concentrate!  Study  each  community;  plan  a  cam- 
paign, and  then  cultivate  your  community  intensively. 
Make  every  prospect  lead  to  another  prospect.  Get 
acquainted.  Let  your  business  be  known.  Speak  of 
your  business  to  every  one  whom  you  meet.  Concen- 
trate ;  and  the  hardest  territory  is  bound  to  yield ;  busi- 
ness is  bound  to  come. 

The  Drag-Net  Plan  of  Producing  Prospects 
Recently  a  corporation  received  a  letter  to  the  fol- 

\5 


Salesmanship 


lowing  effect: 

'The  month  is  nearly  gone  and  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  I  have  only  one  small  sale  to  report.  The  trouble 
is  I  have  no  prospects.  The  office  is  doing  practically 
no  circularizing  here  and  as  a  result  I  have  no  one  on 
whom  to  work.  I  wish  you  could  get  me  some  pros- 
pects." 

No  doubt  there  are  many  men  in  this  same  state  of 
mind.  The  man  who  is  in  this  state  of  mind  does  not 
understand  his  work.  He  has  a  misconception  of  the 
possibilities  and  methods  of  investment  salesmanship. 

No  salesman  ever  made  a  great  success  by  leaning 
upon  the  office.  Salesmanship  is  a  profession  in 
which  originality,  ingenuity  and  resource  are  neces- 
sary, and  the  salesman  who  has  these  qualities  asks  for 
no  more  than  a  good  proposition  on  which  to  work. 

Do  not  misunderstand.  The  office  is  anxious  and 
ready  to  help  the  men  in  the  field  in  every  possible 
way,  and  circularizing  plans  are  commonly  used  which 
should  develop  good  prospects.  But  no  circularizing 
plan  can  be  favorably  compared  with  the  possibili- 
ties of  drag-net  work  by  a  salesman  who  is  actually 
upon  the  ground. 


Prospects  in  Every  Community 

Every  man  should  understand  that  in  this  business 
the  selling  problem  is  not  one  of  creating  prospects; 
it  is  one  of  finding  them.  In  every  town,  no  matter 
how  small,  there  are  many  persons  who  have  money 
saved.  Every  man  or  woman  who  has  money  saved 
is  interested  in  seeing  that  money  earning  as  large  an 

16 


Salesmanship 


interest  rate  as  is  consistent  with  safety.  Many  have 
it  in  savings  banks,  yielding  only  four  per  cent,  inter- 
est. They  are  merely  waiting  for  someone  in  whom 
they  have  confidence  to  show  them  where  it  can 
safely  be  invested  at  a  higher  rate  of  interest.  If  you 
be  the  one  to  find  and  to  solicit  the  owner  and  to  win 
his  or  her  confidence,  you  will  be  the  one  to  secure 
the  investment  of  that  money.  In  every  community 
this  is  invariably  true.  The  prospects  are  there;  they 
merely  need  to  be  found  and  to  be  solicited. 


Make  Every  Prospect  Lead  to  Others 

The  surest  way  of  finding  prospects  in  any  commu- 
nity is  for  the  salesman  to  cultivate  the  community 
thoroughly  by  the  drag-net  plan;  that  is,  by  making 
every  prospect  lead  to  more  prospects  until  his  endless 
chain  of  references  has  brought  him  into  contact  with 
every  one  in  the  community  who  is  in  a  position  to 
invest. 

The  more  prospects  you  have  as  a  nucleus,  the  bet- 
ter. But  the  drag-net  plan  can  be  worked  with  a 
basis  of  a  single  investor  or  prospect.  If  you  have 
already  one  or  more  investors  in  a  community,  your 
problem  is  greatly  simplified,  since  you  can  approach 
them  with  the  direct  proposition  of  suggesting  to  you 
the  names  of  those  of  their  acquaintances  who  may 
be  good  prospects. 

But  suppose  that  a  single  prospect  has  brought  you 
into  a  new  community.  You  may  call  on  the  pros- 
pect and  present  your  proposition.  Possibly  you  sell 
to  him,  but  whether  you  sell  to  him  or  not,  take  advan- 
tage of  this  leverage  to  make  an  acquaintance. 

17 


Salesmanship 

How  to  Solicit  Names 


You  can  say  to  him:  "Mr.  Gray,  I  came  here  espe- 
cially to  see  you  and  I  am  very  glad  to  have  had  an 
opportunity  to  tell  you  about  our  business  and  about 
our  securities.  I  shall  be  in  town  the  rest  of  the  day 
and  naturally  I  would  like  to  make  the  time  profitable 
to  myself  and  to  the  company,  if  I  possibly  can.  Do 
you  know  of  someone  who  might  have  a  little  money 
saved  for  investment  and  who  would  at  least  be  inter- 
ested in  knowing  about  our  securities?" 

If  Mr.  Gray  already  own  certificates,  he  will  be  glad 
to  give  you  the  names  of  a  few  persons,  because  he 
has  been  convinced  that  it  is  a  good  investment ;  if  not, 
he  will,  as  a  rule,  give  you  several  names  anyway, 
since  he  will  feel  more  or  less  under  obligations  be- 
cause of  your  having  come  a  considerable  distance  to 
see  him.  Thus  every  prospect  can  be  made  productive 
of  more  prospects. 

When  you  have  secured  several  names,  call  on 
those  persons,  solicit  them,  and  then,  whether  you 
sell  them  or  not,  ask  them  for  the  names  of  friends 
or  acquaintances  who  might  be  interested  in  your 
proposition.  If  from  each  prospect  that  you  call  upon 
you  can  obtain  an  average  of  two  names,  your  list  of 
prospects  will  increase  in  geometrical  progression ;  two 
prospects  will  create  four;  four  will  create  eight; 
eight  will  create  sixteen;  and  so  on,  until,  from  a 
nucleus  of  a  single  prospect,  you  will  have  a  rapidly 
growing  supply  of  prospects  of  the  best  class ;  because 
they  have  been  given  to  you  by  friends  who  know 
their  circumstances. 

In  some  cases,  you  may  not  be  able  to  obtain  this 
assistance  without  offering  an  inducement.     Actual 

18 


Salesmanship 


help  in  making  sales  merits  reward,  and  you  will  find 
that  prospects  and  investors  alike  will  be  glad  to  give 
you  their  earnest  help  if  they  are  to  receive  compensa- 
tion for  it.  It  is  vitally  important,  however,  that  you 
do  not  abuse  this  method.  Do  not  pay  money  in  any 
case  unless  it  actually  has  been  earned.  If  you  pay  a 
man  money  which  he  has  not  earned,  he  will  expect 
you  to  do  the  same  thing  in  the  future,  and  you  will 
thus  lose  his  active  assistance,  For  passive  assistance 
you  should  not  pay. 


Getting  One  Mans  Co-operation 

A  variation  of  the  drag-net  plan  outlined  above  is 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  some  individual  in  a  com- 
munity who  is  in  a  position  to  give  you  the  names  of 
a  large  number  of  prospects.  In  a  small  town,  for 
example,  you  may  find  a  grocer,  druggist,  or  other 
merchant  who,  through  his  acquaintance  and  business 
relations,  will  be  in  a  position  to  tell  you  the  financial 
standing  and  personal  characteristics  of  nearly  every 
one  in  the  community — information  which  it  would 
be  difficult  otherwise  to  obtain.  Or  you  may  work 
in  a  factory  by  first  getting  acquainted  with  the  super- 
intendent or  the  foreman  and  using  him  as  a  leader 
to  other  prospects.  In  such  cases,  where  one  individ- 
ual can  make  you  acquainted  with  a  large  number  of 
persons,  you  can  make  it  worth  his  while  to  assist  you. 
In  all  such  cases,  and  also  when  the  simple  drag-net 
plan  is  used,  it  is  important  that  you  obtain  from  the 
prospect  permission  to  use  his  name  in  calling  on  the 
persons  whose  names  he  gives  you.  This  personal 
link  in  the  chain  will  be  almost  sure  to  win  you  an 

19 


Salesmanship 


audience,  which  is  all  a  good  salesman  should 
require. 

The  drag-net  system  is  not  a  speculative,  theoretical 
plan  of  securing  prospects;  it  is  a  tried  and  proved 
method.  There  is  no  question  about  its  productive- 
ness. It  is  bound  to  bring  business.  With  such  a 
method  available,  there  is  no  reason  why  any  man 
should  give  the  "no  prospect"  excuse  in  explanation 
of  his  "no  business"  reports. 

Every  man  should  give  the  drag-net  a  big  place  in 
his  business-getting  plans.  Use  it  persistently ;  follow 
it  up.  It  is  a  certain  way  of  bringing  you  into  contact 
with  the  persons  you  want  to  know,  the  persons  in  a 
position  to  invest.  It  is  a  certain  way  to  increase 
sales. 


Maying  the  Most  of  Co-operation 


Do  not  make  the  mistake  of  winning  the  co-opera- 
tion of  one  man  and  then  depending  entirely  upon 
that  one  man  to  help  you  in  the  future.  Every  man 
has  a  limited  circle  of  friends  and  of  acquaintances. 
There  are  a  certain  number  of  persons  whom  a  helper 
can  assist  you  in  meeting  and  possibly  in  selling,  but 
when  that  number  has  been  exhausted  that  helper 
will  no  longer  be  of  service  to  you  until  his  clients  are 
again  able  to  buy,  and  in  the  meantime  you  will  have 
to  turn  to  a  new  source  of  prospects. 

The  important  thing  is  to  provide  for  this  condition 
by  constantly  securing  the  co-operation  of  new  help- 
ers to  whom  you  can  turn  whenever  your  earlier 
sources  of  prospects  have  been  worked  out.     In  all 

20 


Salesmanship 


probability,  one  of  the  prospects  whom  you  meet 
through  the  first  helper  can  in  turn  lead  you  to  other 
prospects,  for  he  is  certain  to  have  acquaintances  out- 
side of  your  first  helper's  circle  of  friends.  Thus  by 
constantly  increasing  your  number  of  helpers  you  can 
gradually  build  up  a  staff  of  assistants  in  your  different 
territories  that  will  constantly  keep  you  supplied  with 
prospects. 

Remember  that  the  best  time  to  get  a  man's  co-oper- 
ation is  immediately  after  you  have  sold  to  him.  At 
that  time  he  is  a  satisfied  buyer;  he  is  convinced  that 
he  has  a  good  investment  or  he  would  not  have  bought 
it;  he  is  enthusiastic  about  it  because  he  thoroughly 
believes  in  it.  Therefore,  he  is  in  a  frame  of  mind 
that  will  make  him  ready  and  willing  to  talk  with  his 
friends  and  acquaintances  about  his  newly-acquired 
securities. 

Take  advantage  of  this  situation  promptly,  and  as 
soon  as  you  have  sold  to  a  man  ask  him  for  the 
names  of  others  who  may  be  interested  in  investment. 
He  is  almost  certain  to  have  in  mind  a  few  persons 
who  would  be  good  prospects  for  you.  When  he  is 
still  enthusiastic  over  his  own  purchase  is  the  time 
to  secure  his  co-operation  in  reaching  others. 

Obtain  one  good,  enthusiastic  helper  in  each  of  your 
communities;  then  be  prepared  to  replace  those  help- 
ers with  others  as  soon  as  the  circle  of  friends  of  the 
first  is  exhausted.  In  this  way  you  can  create  for 
yourself  a  steady  source  of  prospects  and  of  business. 


Causes  of  Failure 
When  a  good  salesman  fails  there  is  something 

21 


'Salesmanship 


wrong,  either  with  the  business  or  with  himself.  If 
he  represent  a  good  business,  the  trouble  must  be 
with  the  man.  When  a  successful,  experienced  sales- 
man fails  while  representing  a  good  business,  his  fail- 
ure is  probably  due  to  one  or  all  of  the  following 
causes :  He  is  shirking  his  work ;  he  is  failing  to  inter- 
view and  to  solicit  a  sufficient  number  of  persons; 
he  is  chasing  the  butterfly  of  big  sales  which  he  will 
never  close,  and  is  neglecting  the  small  sales  that  are 
sure;  he  is  a  victim  of  the  mistaken  idea  that  there 
is  no  business  in  his  territory,  when  men  all  around 
him  are  making  sales;  or  he  has  lost  his  enthusiasm, 
which  as  a  matter  of  course  means  discontent,  dis- 
satisfaction, loss  of  ambition,  and  loss  of  confidence 
in  himself. 

To  those  who  fail,  a  few  words  of  advice:  Make 
an  early  start;  sell  to  investors  of  moderate  means, 
mechanics,  bookkeepers,  foremen,  superintendents, 
physicians,  dentists,  druggists,  and  merchants.  In- 
stead of  trying  to  sell  $5,000  to  one  man,  sell  it  to 
ten  men.  Do  the  same  thing  next  month  and  the 
following  month,  and  you  will  build  up  a  clientage 
that  will  enable  you  to  do  a  good  business  each  month. 
Also,  observe,  it  is  the  man  and  his  methods  that 
make  success,  and  not  the  territory. 

Doing  business  is  simply  a  matter  of  perfecting  a 
canvass  on  a  proposition  and  then  going  out  and 
telling  the  people  about  it.  Certainly  you  have  the 
talking  points  that  many  persons  will  be  glad  to  hear. 
But  you  must  find  such  persons.  Don't  expect  pros- 
pects to  call  upon  you.  If  you  want  anything  worth 
your  while,  you  must  go  after  it,  and  this  applies 
to  sales. 

Every  representative  is  expected  to  prove  that  he 
is  a  salesman  by  closing  contracts.     Any  man  with 

22 


Salesmanship 


the  ability  to  talk  can  interest  prospects  in  a  good 
investment,  but  it  takes  a  salesman  to  close  contracts. 
Those  men  who  succeed  in  obtaining  business  be- 
come stronger  salesmen  by  reason  thereof.  They 
believe  that  they  can  do  what  other  salesmen  are  do- 
ing. They  try,  and  succeed.  Such  men  then  know 
that  they  can  make  sales;  confidence  in  their  ability 
as  salesmen  is  established  in  their  minds,  and  they 
can  be  depended  upon  for  satisfactory  returns. 


Chasing  The  Butterfly  of  Large  Sales 

If  there  be  one  rule  most  necessary  for  every  sales- 
man to  observe,  it  is  this:  Do  not  aim  too  high. 
In  other  words,  do  not  think  that  in  order  to  be  a  high- 
class  salesman,  you  must  call  on  capitalists  only,  and 
make  only  large  sales.  The  chances  are  great  that 
if  you  pursue  that  policy  you  will  find  yourself  at 
the  end  of  the  month  with  no  results  at  all.  Such 
prospects  must  be  handled  as  a  side  issue;  you  can- 
not depend  upon  them  for  a  steady  production  of 
sales. 

Don't  consider  yourself  of  too  high  grade  of  sales- 
men to  sell  to  investors  of  moderate  means.  You 
should  not  ignore  wealthy  investors,  but  do  not  de- 
pend upon  them.  A  salesman  is  safer  who  sells 
from  $3,000.00  to  $5,000.00  month  in  and  month 
out,  than  the  man  who  intends  to  sell  $10,000.00  to 
one  investor,  and  seldom  accomplishes  his  purpose. 

Many  men  make  the  mistake  of  chasing  the  butter- 
fly of  large  sales  when  all  around  them  are  investors 
with  small  savings  who  would  be  glad  to  learn  of  a 
good  investment. 

23 


Salesmanship 


Do  not  try  to  sell  all  your  goods  to  one  man  or  to 
a  single  group  of  men,  or  you  surely  will  be  disap- 
pointed. The  reason  therefor  is  simple.  Influential, 
wealthy  men  usually  are  interested  in  enterprises  of 
their  own.  You  may  be  able  to  secure  interviews 
with  them;  for  being  bright  men  of  business  they 
are  shrewd  enough  to  want  to  learn  your  way  of 
marketing  securities.  They  will  listen  courteously 
to  what  you  have  to  say,  ask  you  to  call  again, 
and  then,  when  they  can  learn  nothing  more  from 
you,  will  just  as  courteously  turn  down  your  propo- 
sition. 

The  salesman  who  succeeds  to-day  is  the  man  who 
interviews  and  who  solicits  investors  with  from 
$50.00  to  $1,000.00;  carpenters,  electricians,  ma- 
chinists, dentists,  doctors,  business  men,  foremen,  su- 
perintendents, managers.  Only  incidentally  he  sees 
wealthy  investors.  Soliciting  investors  of  moderate 
means  is  his  chief  work ;  he  calls  on  wealthy  investors 
only  as  he  encounters  them.  In  this  way,  he  pro- 
duces enough  business  to  make  his  employment  pro- 
fitable to  himself  and  to  his  company,  and  when  he 
makes  a  large  sale  it  is  all  profit  for  himself. 

Possibly  most  important  of  all,  small  sales  train  you 
and  prepare  you  for  large  sales  when  opportunity 
offers.  By  making  many  calls  on  investors  of  small 
means,  you  develop  effective  methods  of  approach, 
you  work  out  a  logical  canvass,  you  become  a  master 
of  your  proposition,  and  in  every  way  a  better  sales- 
man. Every  sale  you  make,  even  if  it  be  for  no  more 
than  fifty  dollars,  adds  to  your  efficiency  and  gives 
you  greater  confidence  in  yourself  and  in  your  ability. 

Follow  the  trail  of  investors  of  moderate  means. 
It  leads  by  the  shortest,  safest,  and  surest  road  to  suc- 
cess in  your  work. 

24 


Salesmanship 

The  Possibilities  of  Indirect  Salesmanship 

Too  few  of  us  realize  the  producing  power  of  in- 
direct salesmanship.  The  merest  suggestion,  tactfully 
made  and  rightly  directed,  often  brings  greater  ulti- 
mate results  than  the  most  aggressive  efforts. 

It  took  me  a  long  time  to  learn  this.  I  once 
thought  that  if  a  man  had  money  to  invest,  the  thing 
to  do  was  to  go  after  him  hard.  I  know  now  that 
such  a  course  might  in  many  cases  spoil  all  chance 
of  a  sale.  Some  men  need  a  hammer  and  tongs 
campaign  to  bring  them  to  the  closing  point.  But 
I  know  of  other  men  to  whom  I  have  sold  without 
their  ever  knowing  that  I  wanted  to  sell  to  them. 
Through  casual,  indirect  suggestion  and  seeming  in- 
difference to  their  interest  in  my  proposition,  I  per- 
mitted them  to  sell  to  themselves. 

I  can  best  make  clear  what  I  mean  by  citing  an 
instance  in  which  an  accidental  meeting  and  indirect 
salesmanship  combined,  resulted  in  one  of  my  most 
fruitful  sources  of  business. 

Some  years  ago,  while  on  a  crowded  passenger 
train,  I  sat  beside  a  gentleman  who  was  reading  a 
newspaper.  After  he  had  finished  the  paper,  he 
offered  it  to  me.  I  thanked  him,  but  said  that  my 
eyes  were  giving  me  so  much  trouble  that  I  must  re- 
frain from  reading  on  trains.  He  stated  that  he  also 
had  impaired  vision,  and  our  mutual  trouble  started 
further  conversation. 

I  found  him  a  most  agreeable  traveling  companion, 
and  in  conversing  on  business  topics  incidentally  re- 
marked that  the  company  I  represented  had  had  a 
very  successful  year,  doing  several  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  business.  Then  almost  immediately  I 
changed  the  subject  and  waited  for  results.      They 

25 


Salesmanship 


soon  came,  for  he  inquired  what  company  I  rep- 
resented that  could  do  such  a  volume  of  business 
at  a  profit  during  so  hard  times.  I  replied  that  I 
was  connected  with  a  certain  successful  company. 
Note  that  I  did  not  say  that  I  sold  stock  for  the 
company,  for  had  I  done  so,  he  would  very  prob- 
ably at  once  have  taken  a  defensive  attitude,  know- 
ing that  I  had  something  to  sell.  I  referred  only 
to  the  name  of  the  firm. 

He  replied  that  he  had  heard  that  the  firm  was 
very  successful,  but  that  he  had  no  idea  of  the  magni- 
tude of  the  business  that  it  was  doing.  I  men- 
tioned briefly  some  interesting  features  of  our  busi- 
ness, and  again  changed  the  subject. 

After  a  while,  he  asked  in  what  branch  of  the 
business  I  was  engaged.  I  stated  that  the  company 
found  it  beneficial  to  have  its  stock  widely  distributed 
and  that  therefore  they  maintained  a  sales  force  to 
place  its  stock.  Having  given  him  this  brief  ex- 
planation, I  called  his  attention  to  the  beauty  of  some 
scenery  that  we  were  then  passing. 

After  some  general  conversation,  he  asked  me  the 
capitalization  of  our  company.  I  told  him,  and  as  I 
knew  that  he  was  becoming  much  interested  I  said 
nothing  further  about  the  company  at  that  time. 

Suddenly  he  asked,  "Does  the  stock  pay  divi- 
dends?" I  told  him,  "Yes,"  mentioning  the  rate 
per  annum.  Again  he  inquired,  "For  what  did  you 
say  the  stock  was  selling?"  I  had  not  said,  but 
then  I  told  him. 

I  awaited  his  next  move.  It  came  just  as  we  were 
leaving  the  train  together,  when  he  asked  me  if  1 
would  be  in  his  home  town  soon.  I  told  him  I 
would  be  there  two  days  later.  He  asked  me  kindly 
to  take  his  name  and  address  and  to  call  upon  him, 

26 


Salesmanship 


as  he  had  been  asked  by  a  client  to  secure  an  invest- 
ment and  that  my  talk  had  interested  him.  I  noticed 
that  he  started  to  walk  to  the  hotel,  so  I  took  a  street 
car,  as  I  thought  it  best  to  leave  him  until  I  saw  him 
later  in  his  office.  I  did  not  want  to  appear  in  the 
least  degree  anxious  to  pursue  the  subject. 

When  I  called  to  see  him  two  days  later,  I  found 
him  a  very  busy  attorney.  He  went  straight  to  the 
point:  "I  want  you  to  furnish  me  the  names  and 
addresses  of  five  or  six  large  stockholders  of  long 
standing  who  are  not  officers  of  your  company."  I 
did  so,  and  he  asked  me  to  call  one  week  later.  Im- 
mediately I  left. 

At  my  next  call,  he  said  that  he  had  received  very 
favorable  replies  to  his  inquiries,  and  then  he  put 
questions  to  me  that  kept  me  on  my  mettle,  I  assure 
you.  But  I  answered  them  all,  apparently  to  his  sat- 
isfaction, for  when  I  had  finished  he  wrote  me  a  check 
in  full  payment  of  twenty-five  shares  of  stock,  the 
certificate  to  be  issued  in  the  name  of  his  mother. 

About  six  weeks  later  I  met  him  again  on  a  train 
and  we  lunched  together.  He  told  me  then  that  he 
had  invested  in  the  stock  largely  because  he  had  re- 
ceived so  favorable  replies  in  answer  to  the  particular 
inquiries  he  had  made. 

We  became  quite  friendly  and  he  recommended 
our  stock  to  several  of  his  friends  who  purchased  it. 
About  a  year  after  our  first  interview  I  felt  I  could 
safely  propose  a  commission  to  him.  He  readily 
agreed  to  the  plan  for  he  believed  in  the  security  of 
the  investment  so  thoroughly  that  he  did  not  fear  the 
consequences  of  advising  his  friends  to  invest.  Since 
that  time  he  has  been  of  great  assistance  to  me. 

And  all  because  I  recognized  that  in  his  case  caution 
and  indirect  suggestion  were  the  best  courses  to  pur- 

27 


Salesmanship 


sue.  Had  I  appeared  over  anxious  at  that  first  meet- 
ing, the  probability  is  that  he  would  have  been  sus- 
picious and  would  never  have  asked  me  to  see  him 
again. 

Of  course  it  should  be  understood  that  I  have  never 
depended  upon  indirect  salesmanship  to  produce  any 
great  percentage  of  my  business.  The  bulk  of  my 
business  has  always  come  from  references,  and  day 
in  and  day  out  canvassing  among  investors  of  small 
means,  and  I  believe  that  every  man  should  look  to 
that  class  of  work  for  the  bulk  of  his  business.  But 
some  men  can  best  be  approached  by  the  indirect 
method  and  the  salesman  who  has  the  tact  and  the 
judgment  to  pursue  this  course,  when  it  seems  the 
proper  one,  can  thereby  pave  the  way  to  large  sales 
in  addition  to  his  usual  business. 


Fifty  Millions  of  Dollars  Ready  For  Investment — 
Will  You  Get  Your  Share? 

Fifty  millions  of  dollars  will  be  paid  in  dividends 
the  early  part  of  this  year  to  stock-holders  in  this  coun- 
try. Every  city  and  town  of  any  size  in  every  state 
in  the  Union  will  get  its  share  of  this  vast  distribution 
of  money.  In  your  own  city,  wherever  you  may  be 
working,  many  persons  will  receive  one  or  more 
checks  for  dividends  bringing  them  a  share  of  this 
$50,000,000.00. 

This  should  mean  much  to  every  enterprising  sales- 
man, for  it  means  more  money  in  his  territory  avail- 
able for  investment,  more  persons  in  a  position  to 
buy  what  he  has  to  sell,  more  persons  who  will  be 
interested  in  hearing  him  present  his  business. 

28 


Salesmanship 

Bond  Interest  Will  Be  Fifty  Millions  More 

And  this  $50,000,000.00  is  by  no  means  the  total 
amount  that  investors  will  receive  near  the  first  of 
the  year,  for  this  represents  dividends  on  stocks  only. 
It  does  not  take  into  consideration  the  millions  of 
dollars  that  will  be  paid  as  interest  upon  bonds.  We 
have  available  no  figures  showing  exactly  what  this 
amount  will  be,  but  as  the  amount  of  bonds  held  by 
investors  in  the  United  States  at  least  equals  the 
amount  of  stock,  it  is  only  reasonable  to  believe  that 
more  than  $50,000,000.00  will  be  paid  to  bond- 
holders. This  means  that  many  persons  in  your  ter- 
ritory will  take  to  their  banks,  within  the  next  few 
weeks,  interest  coupons  aggregating  substantial  sums 
and  will  add  them  to  their  bank  accounts. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  a  salesman  say  that 
there  are  no  good  prospects,  that  times  are  bad, 
that  there  is  no  money  available  for  investment. 
Any  man  who  makes  such  a  statement  does  so  be- 
cause he  has  no  specific  knowledge  of  conditions. 
Either  he  has  not  made  a  careful  canvass  of  his  terri- 
tory, or  he  has  made  no  effort  to  learn  the  facts  told 
above. 


Your  Territory  Gets  Its  Share 

There  is  always  money  awaiting  investment  in 
every  city,  and  in  every  town,  and  in  a  large  number 
of  homes  in  every  city  and  town.  There  is  money 
in  your  territory,  because  hardly  a  day  passes  that 
someone  does  not  receive  dividend  checks  from  cor- 
porations in  which  he  is  interested,  or  does  not  have 
bond  interest  mature. 

29 


Salesmanship 


Yet  remarkable  as  it  may  seem,  that  such  an  enor- 
mous sum  as  $50,000,000.00  should  be  distributed 
among  stock-holders  in  the  near  future,  it  is  simply 
an  illustration  of  what  occurs  every  month  in  the 
year.  It  is  true  that  January  1st  marks  the  half- 
yearly  period,  but  hundreds  of  companies  pay  quar- 
terly and  half-yearly  dividends,  and  others  do  not  fig- 
ure their  dividend  payments  from  January  1st  at  all. 
So  you  will  find,  if  you  investigate,  that  on  Febuary 
1st  the  same  great  distribution  of  profits  to  stock- 
holders and  to  bond-holders  will  occur  again.  On 
March  1st  it  will  be  repeated,  and  so  on  the  whole 
year  through. 

The  Wall  Street  Journal  reports  that  during  the 
year  of  1911  approximately  $600,000,000.00  was 
paid  out  to  stock-holders  in  the  United  States  in  divi- 
dends alone,  and  it  is  estimated  that  considerably  more 
than  that  amount  was  paid  as  interest  to  bond- 
holders; so  it  may  safely  be  said  that  not  less  than 
$1,500,000,000.00  was  distributed  among  investors 
in  1912,  and  a  large  part  of  that  amount  was  re- 
invested in  stocks  and  bonds. 

These  are  facts.  In  the  face  of  such  facts  no 
salesman  can  justify  himself  in  saying,  "There  are 
no  investors,  there  is  no  money  awaiting  investment." 
There  are  always  prospects  and  each  month  your 
field  of  prospects  renews  itself.  Disregarding  en- 
tirely the  enormous  sums  represented  by  salaries  and 
by  local  business  profits,  the  income  from  invest- 
ment alone  is  sufficient  to  give  you  good  prospects 
every  day  in  the  year. 

Take  advantage  of  these  conditions,  and  prosecute 
your  work  with  the  knowledge  that  there  is  money 
waiting  for  you  this  month  and  every  month,  if  you 
are  strong  enough  to  get  it. 

30 


Co-operation 

In  all  life  there  is  a  germ  which  does  not  die. 
Men,  it  is  true,  do  their  Work  and  pass  away,  and 
all  memory  of  personality  is  effaced.  Bat  the  ideas 
which  controlled  their  lives  exist,  and  eventually 
they  come  to  logical  fulfillment.  This  publication 
treats  of  the  idea  of  co-operation,  one  of  the  founda- 
tion stones  of  business.  In  fact,  business  is  possible 
only  because  of  co-operation. 


w 


Co-operation 
A  Lesson  of  History 


As  we  review  the  development  of  the  human  race 
from  its  earliest  records  we  find  the  unit  to  be  not  the 
individual,  but  the  family;  man  and  woman  co-oper- 
ating in  founding  and  protecting  the  household,  and 
procuring  and  conserving  food,  shelter  and  clothing. 
As  individuals  united  in  families,  so  families  joined  in 
tribes.  Then  tribe  warred  against  tribe,  each  seeking 
first  to  protect  its  own,  and  then  usually  to  increase 
its  possessions. 

Later,  following  the  principle  which  led  families  to 
unite  in  tribes,  we  find  tribes  joining  to  form  nations, 
waiving  what  in  some  cases  were  tribal  advantages  in 
order  that  the  safety  and  welfare  of  adjoining  tribes 
could  better  be  served.  Then  for  a  long  period  we 
find  nation  warring  against  nation  with  great  expendi- 
ture of  human  life,  and  an  aftermath  of  sorrow  and  of 
misery. 

But  the  idea  of  co-operation  was  quietly  working — 
perhaps  indeed  the  waste  and  horror  of  many  wars 
were  needed  to  emphasize  its  value  and  its  application 
to  the  affairs  of  nations.  There  may  still  be  wars,  but 
the  probability  of  their  occurrence  is  lessened  when 
strong  nations  join  to  protect  the  territory  of  the 
weaker,  when  courts  of  arbitration  are  established  for 
the  settlement  of  international  disputes,  and  when  in  a 
temple  erected  to  Peace  representatives  of  all  lands 
assemble  in  friendly  conference  in  an  effort  to  remove 
causes  of  friction  and  to  insure  world-wide  tranquility, 
agreeing  upon  the  principles  which  should  govern 
international  relations — which  must  hereafter  tend, 
not  to  the  aggrandizement  of  individual  governments, 
but  to  the  co-operation  of  all  nations  in  efforts  to  con- 

33 


Co-operation 


serve  the  opportunities,  the  comfort  and  the  happiness 
of  mankind. 


Agency  Work 

This  development  of  an  idea  which  has  dominated 
and  rendered  possible  the  advancement  of  the  human 
race  from  its  crude  beginning  to  the  highly  organized 
civilization  which  gives  us  to-day  both  our  opportunity 
and  our  duty  in  the  main  has  a  parallel  in  the  history  of 
agency  business. 

At  first  an  agent,  without  experience  and  with  little 
knowledge  of  the  principles  of  solicitation,  had  but  one 
idea  in  mind — the  procurement  of  an  application  and 
the  closing  of  a  sale,  and  anyone  who  interfered  with 
that  object  he  considered  as  his  natural  enemy.  Little 
by  little,  however,  the  idea  became  fixed  in  the  minds 
both  of  agents  and  of  company  officials,  that  the  inter- 
ests of  company  and  agent  were  identical. 

Companies  began  to  realize  that  their  own  progress 
and  prosperity  depended  upon  the  permanent  welfare 
of  a  corps  of  industrious,  upright,  successful  agents, 
and  agents  realized  that  it  was  not  only  to  the  com- 
pany's advantage,  but  to  their  own  also,  if  they  were 
truthful  and  conservative  in  representation. 

It  became  clear  to  the  agent  that  if  correct  practices, 
such  as  gave  support  and  co-operation  on  his  part  in 
advancing  the  interests  of  the  company,  reacted  favor- 
ably upon  his  welfare,  then  it  was  of  importance  to 
him  that  his  fellow  agents  of  the  same  institution  also 
should  conduct  their  business  with  a  proper  regard  for 
the  interests  of  the  company.    The  benefit  of  co-oper- 

34 


Co-operation 


ation  of  a  body  of  agents  who  represent  the  same  com- 
pany, and  are  dependent  in  equal  measure  upon  the 
welfare  and  growth  of  the  institution,  is  obvious. 

If  business  be  soundly  conducted  and  a  company 
so  efficiently  managed  that  its  permanency  and  sol- 
vency be  assured;  if  all  those  engaged  in  the  business 
devote  their  energies  to  educating  the  public  in  the 
value  of  wise  investment  and  the  important  place  it 
fills  in  the  economy  of  the  present  day;  if  companies 
and  agents  by  properly  placing  business,  by  contracts 
fulfilled  to  the  letter,  by  prompt  payment,  by  thought- 
ful consideration  of  the  needs  and  rights  of  investors, 
shall  give  investment  companies  the  popularity  their 
merits  deserve,  then  all  agents  will  find  their  work 
easier. 

Proper  competition  there  will  always  be,  and  it  is 
not  without  advantage  that  the  business  of  all  com- 
panies must  be  conducted  in  the  open,  and  that  the 
result  of  each  shall  be  subject  to  analysis  by  the  others. 
If,  however,  agents  seek  their  success  by  detracting 
from  their  rivals,  or,  in  order  to  succeed,  offer  dis- 
counts, or  in  some  particular  mislead  the  public,  while 
they  may  make  an  immediate  commission,  they  do 
themselves  and  all  other  agents  and  all  companies,  in- 
cluding their  own,  an  injury  by  impairing  the  confi- 
dence of  the  public,  and  by  losing  ultimately  the  good- 
will not  only  of  one  investor  who  may  find  that  he  has 
been  deceived,  but  of  all  those  others  who,  unknown 
to  the  agent,  adopt  the  prejudices  of  the  dissatisfied. 
Hence  it  is  that  a  common  ground  has  been  found 
upon  which  the  agents  of  rival  companies  may  co- 
operate for  their  own  good  and  for  the  good  of  busi- 
ness as  a  whole. 


35 


Co-operation 

Misrepresentation 

Methods  which  have  brought  loss  or  distrust  to  in- 
vestors are  severely  decried  by  men  of  good  instincts, 
and  while  individuals  as  such  paid  little  attention  to 
such  practices  or  to  their  effects,  organizations  of 
agents,  fearful  of  the  unfortunate  and  destructive 
effect  of  unprincipled  campaigns,  have  educated  the 
public  to  recognize  such  evils  and  have  created  a  senti- 
ment which  has  done  much  to  remove  a  blight  from 
business. 


Rebating 

The  sentiment  which  has  been  raised  against  re- 
bating through  the  activities  of  agency  organizations 
has  been  most  effective  in  stopping  this  practice.  Con- 
sider a  locality  where  there  has  been  rebating  by 
agents,  suppose  an  agency  association  to  be  formed, 
and  let  the  men  get  better  acquainted.  Then  suppos- 
ing rebaters  become  members,  they  find  a  sentiment 
against  rebating  on  the  part  of  the  better  class  of 
agency  men  in  the  community;  they  hear  discussed 
the  reasons  why  rebating  is  a  mistake,  how  other 
agents  by  holding  out  against  the  practice  win  the 
respect  of  their  clients  and  largely  increase  their  com- 
missions, and  they  either  begin  to  see  the  business 
wisdom  of  abandoning  rebating,  or  are  shamed  into 
giving  it  up  by  finding  the  general  sentiment  against 
it,  or  if  they  undertake  to  continue  the  practice  it  is 
with  a  conscious  feeling  of  its  impropriety.    It  is  clear 

36 


Co-operation 


that  a  man  who  operates  with  a  sense  of  impropriety 
cannot  be  permanently  successful. 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  many  men  have  joined 
agencies  when  their  practices  were  not  in  accord  with 
the  principles  for  which  the  agencies  stood,  but  it  is 
equally  true  that  a  most  important  result  of  organiza- 
tion is  that  many  of  these  very  men  have  been  con- 
verted to  sound  practices  and  made  better,  more  use- 
ful and  more  successful  agents  through  the  educative 
influence  of  association,  through  realizing  the  impor- 
tance to  the  whole  business  of  better  competitive  con- 
ditions in  the  field. 

So  we  note  the  power  of  ideas  to  accomplish,  grad- 
ually it  may  be,  but  effectively,  what  could  probably 
never  be  accomplished  by  rules  or  by  regulations. 

Through  the  spread  in  the  field  of  principles  for 
which  agents  should  stand,  business  in  force  is  ren- 
dered more  permanent,  a  greater  equality  of  oppor- 
tunity is  given  agents  through  the  elimination  of  rate- 
cutting  and  unfair  competitive  methods,  and  business 
is  produced  and  maintained  at  less  cost.  Agents  unite 
in  order  to  protect  and  to  advance  their  own  interests 
and  the  interests  of  their  company.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind,  however,  that  we  can  best  serve  the  business, 
best  advance  our  own  permanent  interests,  by  making 
the  interests  of  investors  our  first  concern.  If  we 
should  serve  ourselves  at  their  cost  we  would  post- 
pone the  day  when  we  would  receive  their  full  con- 
fidence and  support. 


Commissions 

Unquestionably,  what  is  for  the  best  interests  of 
customers  will  be  best  ultimately  for  agents,  and  no 


37 


Co-operation 


company  should  pay  more  for  business  than  is  neces- 
sary to  give  adequate  opportunities  to  its  representa- 
tives and  to  provide  for  a  steady  growth.  More  than 
this  we  should  not  ask,  and  the  broad  principle  upon 
which  all  our  activities  should  be  based  is  that  we 
should  seek  for  equal  opportunities,  fair  dealing,  clean 
methods,  the  elimination  of  waste,  and  high  standards 
in  office  and  field,  not  only  for  the  benefit  of  all  the 
members  of  our  calling,  but  for  the  good  of  investors, 
the  ones  who  with  us  will  reap  the  benefit  of  good 
conditions. 


Duty 

To  recur  to  our  duty  as  agents,  let  us  pass  from 
the  realm  of  organized  effort  to  the  opportunity  given 
to  us  as  individuals  to  serve  the  cause  in  which  we 
are  engaged.  I  am  an  agent,  and  I  repeat  it  boldly 
with  a  sincere  belief  in  the  value  of  agency  work,  with 
a  consciousness  of  the  high  service  which  the  indus- 
trious, successful,  upright  agent  renders  to  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  works. 

The  business  men  of  the  community  in  which  you 
live  will  accord  you  just  the  standing  which  your 
work  shows  you  deserve.  If  you  cut  rates  they  will 
have  the  same  lack  of  respect  for  you,  and  lack  of 
confidence  in  your  goods,  that  they  have  for  the  mer- 
chant who  cuts  rates,  and  is  usually  suspected  of  giv- 
ing short  measure.  If  you  show  such  an  eagerness 
to  get  business  that  you  will  place  it  on  almost  any 
terms,  they  will  have  the  same  lack  of  confidence  in 
your  condition  as  they  have  in  the  financial  condition 

38 


*  •-»•.*.  • 


i''.':    Co-operation 


of  a  tradesman  eager  to  make  sales  on  a  basis  which 
cannot  be  permanently  profitable. 

If  you  detract  from  your  competitors,  you  are  likely 
to  hurt  yourself  more  than  them,  for  you  will  be 
classed  with  the  merchant  who,  unable  to  attract  or 
to  retain  patronage,  vents  his  jealousy  by  detracting 
from  the  quality  of  the  goods  sold  by  his  rivals.  If 
you  try  to  turn  men  from  other  solvent  companies 
to  your  own,  you  will  ultimately  be  classed  with  the 
lawyer  who  leads  his  clients  into  litigation,  irrespective 
of  their  real  interests.  If  you  misrepresent  the  con- 
tracts you  are  selling,  or  the  results  which  will  be 
attained  under  them,  you  will  be  classed  with  the 
man  who  by  extravagant  estimates  of  profits  sells 
stock  of  doubtful  value. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  agency  conditions  of 
the  past,  we  labor  under  new  conditions  in  which  the 
business  is  to  be  produced  almost  wholly  by  men  de- 
voting their  entire  time  to  the  work  of  soliciting.  If 
you  are  upright  in  your  actions,  clean  in  your  meth- 
ods, give  sound  and  disinterested  advice  to  those  who 
consult  you,  and  conduct  your  business  generally  in 
accordance  with  high  standards,  you  will  have  no 
reason  to  complain,  and  you  will  find  a  greater  per- 
manent success  than  would  ever  be  possible  by 
methods  of  doubtful  propriety. 

It  is  a  spirit  of  honest,  fair,  frank  dealing  which 
should  govern  our  actions ;  and  if  each  of  you  and  all 
of  those  under  your  influence  and  control  will  let 
square  dealing,  a  fine  sense  of  honor,  frankness  to 
prospects  and  customers,  fairness  to  competitors,  and 
a  real  regard  for  the  proper  conduct  of  business  gov- 
ern your  activities,  ideal  conditions  will  speedily  be 
attained. 


39 


Co-operation 


Organization  can  bring  men  together,  crystallize 
sentiment,  educate  to  proper  methods  and  standards 
and  spread  the  right  spirit,  but  accomplishment  de- 
pends upon  how  the  individual  acts  in  his  daily 
business. 

This  is  a  matter  each  person  must  decide  for  him- 
self, and  the  humblest  agent  shares  the  responsibility 
equally  with  the  leaders  in  his  field.  In  the  exigencies 
of  our  daily  business  life,  let  us  individually  contribute 
to  the  desired  result  by  always  doing  the  right  thing. 


40 


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